5 Animal Yoga Poses to Help Your Child Sleep Better
Yoga before bedtime was a miracle in our household!
When our spirited and active preschooler was tired, she didn’t get lethargic — she got wired. Even though we followed the Four B’s nightly ritual (Bath, Brush teeth, Books, and Bed), that didn’t always calm her down from her highly stimulating day.
When she needed an extra dose of calming potion, we read Good Night, Animal World and used movement to release her pent-up energy. It worked like a charm. Afterward, my daughter was better able to listen to her bedtime books and willingly hopped into bed. Reading and acting out a bedtime yoga book was also a great way for us to bond and breathe together, calming both of us down.
Research shows that yoga improves sleep (Your Brain on Yoga, Sat Bir Khalsa). So by introducing movement and mindful breathing to my daughter’s bedtime rituals through ways that engaged her, I could potentially affect her health, academic performance, and emotional well-being in the long term. What more could a parent ask for?
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A child’s healthy sleep habits mean less stress at bedtime for everyone, and parents get to sleep through the night, too. Yoga before bedtime is good for the whole family.
To add yoga to your nightly bedtime ritual, start by creating a calm environment. Clean up the space so that there are fewer distractions. Play soothing music, dim the lights, and speak in a calming voice. This helps children relax their minds and bodies.
The five animal yoga poses for kids in this bedtime yoga sequence have especially calming effects. The poses are also in a specific order that invites flow from one pose to the next. Feel free to add other animals to your family yoga experience, but try to avoid stimulating poses like backbends and warrior poses at bedtime.
Some calming poses include forward bends, restorative poses, gentle twists, and simple inversions. To maintain flow when adding poses, keep the poses in the sequence linked closely by grouping the standing poses together and the seated poses together.
5 Animal Yoga Poses to Help your Child Sleep Better
Encourage your children’s imagination and follow their energy and interests. Focus on having fun with movement, not on performing perfectly aligned poses. Bring attention to your child’s breath as you go through the animal yoga poses, but let the exploration of mindful breathing happen naturally.
1. Eagle Pose – Eagle
How to practice Eagle Pose: stand tall in Mountain Pose, wrap one leg around the other, bring your bent arms out in front of you, wrap your arms together the opposite of your legs, and slightly bend your knees. Pretend to perch in a tree like a bald eagle. Repeat the steps, putting the opposite legs and arms in front this time.
2. Downward-Facing Dog Pose – Sheepdog
How to practice Downward-Facing Dog Pose: Bend forward at your hips and place your palms flat on the ground. Step back to put space between your hands and feet, with your buttocks up in the air, and stretch like a sheepdog.
3. Cat Pose – African Lion
How to practice Cat Pose: Shift forward to an all-fours position, round your back, and tuck your chin into your chest. Pretend to be an African lion. You could add a Lion’s Breath here.
4. Extended Child’s Pose – Sea Turtle
How to practice Extended Child’s Pose: Sit back on your heels, slowly bring your forehead down to rest on the floor in front of your knees, and reach your arms out in front of you. Place the palms of your hands flat on the floor. Take a few deep breaths. Pretend to be a sea turtle.
5. Cobbler’s Pose – Monarch Butterfly
How to practice Cobbler’s Pose: come to sit on your buttocks with a tall spine, bend your legs, place the soles of your feet together, and gently flap your legs like the wings of a monarch butterfly.
Finish your bedtime yoga sequence by lying on your back with your arms and legs stretched out in a Resting Pose. Take a few deep breaths and relax.
My daughter and I usually hold hands as we lie next to each other. Or she lies on top of me, rising and falling with my breath. The experience is truly magical.
Have you already added yoga to your child’s bedtime ritual? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!
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